David was a inquisitive little bastard. He sat in the corner of my Food Truck's kitchen and just kept asking questions, between his attempts to connect with his mana, and his breathing exercises. I swear he had a greater natural talent than mine. Which was why when my BTC notices had come in, he was worth 10000 Company points just for meeting him. I'd also gotten task points for repairing and altering machines, and more for healing the folks that'd gotten smashed up on the highway.

  "How old are you?" I swear if I could take my eyes off the stove and look at him there would be stars in his eyes. The boy was obsessed with his fantasy games. Which he played on a innovative system that combined Brain Dance tech and Virtual Holograms. Somehow, I'd become the embodiment of all his dreams of slaying dragons and rescuing maidens fair.

  "I'm... about 31." Damn. I missed a birthday. Of course, I looked about eighteen. David's mother Gloria laughed in my face when I said I'd offered her son a paid internship. That was really my way of slipping her the signing bonus with enough money for a new car. They needed it, desperately.

  While me flicking her the eddies had almost made her kick my ass, her realization that the Arasaka school David was attending was a never ending money sink stayed her hand. And that she'd have to submit to the mercies of Night City's Transit System to get to work. I'd also pointed out that David's background meant that he'd most likely be used as someone scapegoat in Arasaka's cutthroat competition. Which meant he be flatlined for someone else's mistake, probably within his first five years. To them he would be an easily replaceable cog.

  I explained that to me he had an immensely valuable talent, and I'd do everything in my power to keep him alive. I don't know if she caved because she believed me, or if it had something to do with my stats. Maybe it was that her limit amount of cyberware was working better than when she'd gotten it chipped.

  "That's really young for an elf." He seemed disappointed. Which reminded me of what Lunaria had said. I'd thought maybe she'd been joking at the time, beyond the obvious marrying me part. Now, I wasn't so sure. Shit, I'm not sure I wanted to live that long. No, let's look on the bright side someone was very likely to kill me before I hit a hundred.

  "This weekend, we'll head out, and I'll introduce you to my friend. She's at least a thousand years old. And really pretty, like seriously hot. Brace yourself." Somethings tells me I'm going to enjoy watching the kid get his mind blown. Earnest reactions were always so amusing.

  David was quiet for awhile, starting up his cycle of trying to touch his mana.

  All while we'd been talking, I'd been cooking and prepping for serving dinner. My menu was going to be simple. Burritos, beef or chicken, black or refried bean, mozzarella, cheddar or colby jack. Three types of sauce were offered sweet and smoky BBQ, mild pepper sauce and melt your face off pepper sauce. Two size of flour tortilla, normal which was twice the size of an XXL burrito and "Oh my God it won't fit... in my mouth" sized.

  Normal sized was an eddie, or 4 eddies less than its closest competitor. It would cost about 10 ennies in materials to make. The larger size was 5 eddies and cost me about 35 ennies to make.

  David almost had it. I could feel his mana moving with his breathing.

  The next menu item was sandwiches. I used a meat slicer to carve up ham, turkey, salami, pepperoni, and bologna. Maybe I'd add roast beef later. I used a bread slicer to divide up my freshly baked loaves. White, wheat, brioche and sourdough. Mustard, Mayo or oil and vinegar. Salt and pepper. The sandwiches were going to go for 3 eddies. I had on offer several types of small bags of chips, 2 for an eddie.

  Both the burritos and sandwiches can add veggies like lettuce, tomato, and onion. I'd expand the selection later. I was also was going to offer fries and corndogs later on. To drink, I had a soda fountain machine and offered all the typical options from my old world. 50 ennies for the small, 1 eddie for the medium and 1.5 eddies for the large.

  My basic model would be to sell for a few hours, or until I ran out of food. I wasn't going to cook and serve customers. I'd get David to run the register, after he had his basic mana manipulation down. That'd be some other day though.

  I finished all my prep work and checked the time, a few minutes til four. A good time to open. I'd picked a spot near Megabuilding 4, and Susie Q had arraigned the needed permits. She had an in with a few folks on the zoning board. I could pretty much set up shop anywhere. My thought was to pop up in different places everyday we were open. Make people work for their tasty food.

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  "Can I ask why you are doing this?" Oh, I guess David was taking a break again.

  "What, running a Food Truck?" I could see why he'd be confused. With what he'd seen me do, I could be selling my services for huge bank. Sure, I needed money but we had tons of ways to make money.

  "Yes."

  "Couple of reasons, really. I like cooking, and I really like watching people eat what I cook. This food is both cheaper and better for folks than the scop you get in vending machines, or most diners. I have lots of ways to make a lot of money, but this way I can do that and help bring a little joy into people lives." I looked at him. "There ain't enough simple pleasure in life here. It wears people down. They go nuts. I have more messes to clean up. Make sense?"

  "Eh, maybe... It seems you could make people happier with healing." He cocked his head while he tried to work out my logic. Which might not totally be logical.

  "Sure for a little while, but people don't need healing all the time. They need to eat everyday. Speaking of... you hungry, kid?" I figured it be a way to get him to shut up for a minute or two.

  "Yeah. Okay, you're really young for an elf, so why do you talk like an old timer?" The elf thing was really a big deal to him. Why was he so obsessed with that game... what was it again? Oh right, Estrigar. Maybe it was just that good. Though given the brainrot most of the modern people consume, maybe not.

  "I wasn't always an elf, it's a recent development. And before you ask, I'm fairly sure I am actually an elf, not a biomod. I have their powers and senses. I've got wicked fast reflexes. But I started out as a human. So I talk like I did when I was a human. Plus, I haven't been around other elves enough to pick up all their mannerism yet." I finished putting a giant burrito together for him with a little of everything. Teenage boys are like garbage disposals, they'll chew up anything you give 'em. I could still vaguely remember those days. I was always hungry.

  I handed him his food but not before he asked, "Could I become an elf?" There was a scary gleam in his eyes. I figured I better really take the question seriously.

  I thought about what I'd done with Life Crafting, and realized a few things I'd avoided thinking about until now.

  "To be honest, I'm not sure. I could at the very least make you look like an elf, if you really wanted it. But I'm not sure if I could bestow the powers and abilities of an elf on you. It would require some experimenting. We should at least wait until you're finished growing before we try anything like that." I didn't want him stunted by me screwing around with his physical structure too soon. Like poor Rebecca.

  Instead of looking upset, he looked thoughtful. Though the rapid chewing and hums of enjoyment kind of wrecked the effect.

  A person walked up to the window.

  "Is it really just an eddie for the burrito?" This guy was pretty ordinary looking for the streets of Night City. His augments were midline at best, but his clothes were in good order.

  "Yup, and I guaranty it will be better than what you'd get out of that vending machine over there. Just don't try to scam me, I'll have my Truck shoot you."

  "O-okay, I'll take a normal sized beef burrito with refried beans and that white cheese there. Throw some lettuce and onion on there with that mild pepper sauce. Could I ask for some salt and pepper?" At my nod, "Thanks." I finished with the assembly, and looked at him.

  He flicked me the eddie and I handed him his burrito wrapped neatly in foil. He stepped away, open the package up and took a bite. His eyes got big. He inhaled the rest, and walked back over. I gave him a raised eyebrow thinking he might try something.

  "Can I get another and a large soda, I don't know these brands, do you have something like a Nicola?"

  I made him another burrito and poured him a Pepsi. He flicked me the money. He took a sip of the soda.

  "Oh man, that's preem. Thank you!" He waved and started to walk away.

  "Tell all of your friends, and have a great day!" I yelled to him.

  He turned back, with a startled look on his face. Then he nodded and left.

  "I'm starting to see what you mean, about small pleasures." David said, before he started on his next round of trying to touch his mana.

  A little while later, more people approached my Truck. They said their friend had told them the food was good here. I took their orders and served their food. Then told them to spread the word. They nodded as they enjoyed their food.

  We got a fair bit of business over the next couple of hours, but still had plenty of food left. At eight, I closed up, put the food away, and cleaned everything. The serving trays were metal and the shelves were magnetized. So no worries about them getting tossed while I was driving, as long as I didn't have to pull combat maneuvers.

  It wasn't bad for a first day open and no real advertising.

  I had David take his mom a sandwich, chips and a soda before her shift as an EMT. He really was a good kid. Then he came back down and we continued his lessons.

  At around nine, I got a call from Maine, asking if I could come to the Afterlife. He had a major gig lined up, and they might need The Medic.

  I looked over at David who'd just formed his first manaball. Heh. Fuck it, the kid was going to have to get his feet wet sometime if he was going to be my apprentice.

  I told Maine I'd be there soon.

  But first, we'd have to pick up some backup.